THE NHS cash crisis is set to spread like wildfire through hospitals, Andrew Lansley was told yesterday.

The dire warning came after the Health Secretary announced the South London Healthcare NHS trust could be declared bust because of its debt mountain.

But campaigners say another 22 NHS trusts are also facing serious financial problems, with at least six of them in need of emergency funds.

Geoff Martin, of London Health Emergency, said yesterday: “Anyone who thinks that this debt crisis is restricted to one trust should think again.”

The trusts are struggling to cope with expensive Private Finance Initiative schemes and the demand by the Government to deliver £20billion efficiency savings.

The South London Healthcare NHS trust, which runs three hospitals, is losing £1million a week.

A special administrator has been charged with putting it on a viable footing.

But Mr Martin said: “Now that the poisonous cocktail of the great PFI rip-off and years of gross mismanagement has leaked out it will spread like wildfire.”

Health Secretary Mr Lansley blamed the problems at South London on two extortionate PFI deals worth £2.5billion, costing the trust £61million a year in interest, or 14.4% of its income.

A source close to him said the trust had been driven to the “brink of bankruptcy”.

In a letter to the trust, Mr Lansley said: “A central objective for all providers is to ensure they deliver high quality to patients that is clinically and financially sustainable for the long term.

“I recognise South London Healthcare NHS Trust faces deep and long-standing challenges, some of which are not of its own making.

“Nonetheless, there must be a point when these problems are tackled. I believe we are almost at this point.”

Labour said the PFI was drawn up when John Major was in power in the 1990s and accused Mr Lansley of scuppering a rescue plan drawn up by the trust in May 2010.

Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham said the Tories must share the blame for the problems in South London.

“It was one of those early PFI deals signed in the very early days before the concept had become established,” he said. “This deal went out to market in 1995, under John Major’s government and it did the negotiations on this deal. This problem child has at least joint parenthood.”

Experts say up to 22 other NHS trusts are facing serious financial difficulties because of PFI schemes. Of these, six are reported to have financial obligations viewed as “unsustainable”.

Ealing Hospital NHS Trust, North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust and Surrey and Sussex Healthcare HNS Trust are thought to be among them.

Mr Martin said PFIs should be ripped up. “The only alternative is the NHS in London sinking into a Greek-style crisis,” he said.

The NHS Confederation’s deputy chief executive David Stout said: “Decisive action is going to be needed to help the NHS maintain services and stay in financial balance during this spending squeeze.”

But Rob Macey of the GMB union said the decision to call in administrators was “nothing short of disgraceful” and would be devastating for both patients and staff.

He added: “It cannot be right that we have a Government that is prepared to bail out the banks but not our NHS.”

The sick list

Here is a list of Trusts which are facing serious financial difficulties: